Excavating machine



Dec. 19, 1950 w. E. HUME EXCAVATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 7, 1945 FIGZ.

INVENTOR, W F. W BY @424 ATTORNEY Dec. 19, 1950 w. E. HUME 4,

EXCAVATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 7, 1945 I NVENTOR ATTORNE Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXCAVATING MACHINE Wayne E. Hume, Hydro, Okla.- Application September 7, 1945, Serial No. 14,871

2 Claims (Cl. 37-140) This invention relates to combined earth scrapers, spreaders and dumpers and, in addition to mechanism for controlling the action of the bowl for positioning it to load, to travel while loaded, and to position it for distributing the load while moving in a forward direction. The invention has reference also to the fresno hitch by which the position of the bowl for determinin the bite or depth of action of the blade is controlled by anoperator on a tractor which is pulling the bowl and its equipment.

a An object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby' the frame of the bowl has means for adjustably positioning the bowl for the purposes indicated, and a novel feature of the hitch is the manner in which a head atthe forward end of the tongue coacts with the bowl-positioning member, which positioning means is under control of the operator on the power transmitting means by which the equipment is drawn or propelled. l

1 A further, object of the invention is to'provide'a fresno hitch of the characterindicated which is simple in construction, strong and durable, and comparatively inexpensive to produce and maintain.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed. 7

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 illustrates a view in side elevation of the machine with the bowl in loading position and the frame of the loader in a lowered position;

Figure 2 illustrates a view of the same parts with the bowl in spreading position;

Figure 3 illustrates an enlarged detail view of the frame and hitch partly in section; and

Figure 4 illustrates a plan view thereof.

In these drawings l denotes a bowl having one flat surface I l for sliding on the soil or earth after the bowl is loaded and is being transferred to a location where it is to be dumped. The ends of the bowl have bearing trunnions I2 rotatable in bearings carried by a frame member l3, the frame including two members I3A and I3B which respectively connect with angular portions HA and MB. The angular portions converge at their free ends and are secured together in a suitable manner as indicated at IS. A cross member I is secured at each end to the angular portions HA and MB adjacent their point of connection with the side members HA and BE. A bolt or pivot I6 is mounted in a bracket I1, and a lever I8 is mounted on the pivot and extends below the bracket. The lower end of the lever has a pivot IS on which the inner end of a bolt 20 is mounted, the said bolt havingan annular element near its outer end, against which the end of a spring 2| abuts, the said spring being wound around the bolt and having its inner end bearing against an abutment so that the spring may act to project the bolt into apertures of the hitch head,'as will presently appear. The bolt is withdrawn by the operation ofthe lever l8 which has a flexible connection 22 extending forwardly to a tractor drawing the scraper.

A tongue 23 is connected to a pair of parallel hangers 23A, the upper ends of which are fastly secured to the cross member l4. A hitch head 24 is welded or otherwise secured to the opposite end of the tongue 23 and consists of a channel iron bent in an arc with the flanges of the hitch head turned outwardly. A web 23a of the channel iron has holes, one of which is identified by the numeral 25 and is approximately 2% inches from the bottom, whereas the other, identified by the numeral 26, is near the top of the hitch head and these holes are intended to receive the bolt when the frame is adjusted to cause the blade to operate as it is shown in Figure 1, or to hold the bowl in hauling position, as it is shown in Figure 3. A lever 21 is provided with a flexible member 28 extending to the operator of the tractor, and the said lever '21 has a rod 29 pivoted thereto, as at 30, and the said rod is slidable in a guide 3| rigid with the upper end of an arm 32.

Each end of the bowl has angularly shaped stop lugs 34 and 35 which are engaged either alternately or selectively by trip arms or bars 36, which are attached to a shaft 31 partially rotatable in appropriate bearings 38 on the frame, and the lever 21 is likewise attached to the shaft 31 and partially rotates it in one direction against the action of a spring 40 which is on the rod 29, which spring has one end bearing against the guide 3| and operative to return the lever 21 after it has been released by the operator.

The trip arm or bar, through the oscillation of the lever 21 and partial rotation of the shaft 31, is moved into and out of the path of travel of the stop lugs 34 and 35 so that they may be selectively released or arrested in the operation of the bowl.

A link 4| is an adjustable hitch which can be attached to the head by a pin through the hitch and through the apertures 42 of the flanges of the head.

As the scraper is drawn by reason of its attachment to a tractor coupled to the hitch 4| and its accompanying parts, the bowl will operate in accordance with the manner in which it is held by the engagement of the trip arms 36 with the respective stop lugs '34 and 35. When the bowl is set to scrape and dislodge deposits which are to be loaded in the bowl, the parts are adjusted to the position in which they are shown in Figure 1. In other words, the bolt 20 is lodged in the lower aperture 25 of the head 24 and the frame 13 is inclined downwardly, thus allowing the bowl I to be rocked forward so that as the machine is moved along the ground, the cutting bit of the bowl will bite into the earth. When the bowl is loaded and the flexible member -22 is pulled, the lever I8 will likewise move forward about its pivot Hi to withdraw the bolt 20 from the lowermost aperture 25. Since power is being applied from the clevis to the connection between the tongue and the hangers 23A below the frame 13, the frame l3 will raise and thus cause the bowl Hi to rotate rearwardly sufiiciently to change the angle of the cutting bit upwardly. The :bowl is now free to ride along the ground on the flat surface H. .In this adjustment, the bowl is transferred to the location where the contents of the bowl are to be discharged or dumped and when that location is reached, the lever .21 is operated by pulling the flexible mem-- ber 28, disengaging the 'triparms 36 from the lugs '35 so that the bowl turns until the stop lugs 34 encounter the trip arms, in which position the bowl discharges its contents as is shown in Figure 2. Manipulation of the flexible member 28 will cause the arms to disengage the stop lugs 34 and when the flexible member 28 is released, the trip arms 36 are again located in the path of travel of the stop lugs 35 for a repetition of the operation' and a re-adjustment of the bolt 20 in the lower aperture 25 of the draw -head.

'. It is noted that Figure 1 shows the bowl in position to load the bowl when the machine is moved, whereas Figure 3 illustrates the bowl after it .is loaded and the blade is out of cutting position, and as the drawbar is hooked several inches, and, in practice 10 inches, beneath the main frame, and the trip shaft is mounted on top of the frame and has members engaging stop blocks on the ends of the bowl, when the main frame is raised from the lower hole to the upper hole in the draw bar head, the bowl is forced to roll back out of digging position to its transporting position. After the bowl is loaded and the front lever raised, the pull of the draw bar automaticallyfraises the main-frame and rocks the bowl out of cutting position.

I claim:

1. An excavating machine comprising an excavating bowl, a frame in which the bowl is rotatably mounted, the said frame including a tongue pivoted thereto, means associated with the frame for alternately holding the bowl in different operative adjustments, a draw-head rigid with the tongue and comprising an areshaped channel iron having flanges with coinciding apertures therein and a web between the flanges having an aperture near its upper and lower end, a link to which a tractor. is hitched having means extending through par-ts of the link and through the aperturesof the flanges for adjustably mounting the link on the flanges, a spring-pressed bolt mounted at the front end of the frame and operative to engage selectively an aperture of the web, a lever for retracting the bolt against the action of the spring, and a flexible member connected to the lever and leading to the tractor. I 2. A fresno hitch comprising a frame, a draw head movably connected to the frame of the fresno whereby the same is connected to a tractor, said draw-head comprising an arc-shaped channel iron, the flanges of which have coinciding apertures and the web between the flanges having apertures near its upper and lower ends the said flanges extending forwardly of the fresno, a link adjustably attached to the flanges for coupling to a tractor, and means whereby -th'e frame is adjustablyheld in a lowered or elevated position by means lodged in an aperture of the web.

WAYNE E;

No references cited. 

